Spending this past month in India kicked off my new year with a wealth of design inspiration.

We spent three weeks hunkering down with family in Calcutta – a bustling Indian city nestled in West Bengal – known for its rich history of craft and talented artisans – from embroidery to sculpture and sketching to metal crafts.

Then a week in Mumbai one of India’s most exciting cities. Known as the gateway to India its aesthetic straddles the best of the east and west, resulting in an exquisite design landscape.

Here is a snapshot of inspiration from my travels from shops to eateries to family homes – all of which I will elaborate on in the weeks to come. Happy New Year!

Above: Block print fabric from Anokhi. Mirror at my grandmothers sisters home. A clay plate being decorated at Aarya’s First Rice ceremony by her grandmother using ground rice paste.

Above: Etched brass floor treatment on the stairwell at Good Earth. Luxurious textiles at 85 Lansdowne. The balcony at our family home. A ghostly Victoria Memorial at night. My favourite detail at our family home – the marble floor with brass inlay.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited to the press preview of ‘Rembrandt: The Late Works’ at The National Gallery which opens to the public today.

Each time I visit one of our city’s beautiful museums I never fail to be astounded by the sheer grandeur and rich detail of our galleries. The National Gallery looks out onto the cinematic vista of Trafalgar Square, which as Londoners we are quick to dismiss as a busy tourist trap, but it is a tourist trap with astonishingly good reason as witnessed from the gallery steps.

Inside, intricate floor mosaics and striking palatial architecture is mixed seamlessly with modern details as the galleries expand.

But back to the exhibition. Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art and the most important in Dutch history.

Interested in capturing the world around him without prejudice, his works recorded the ordinary people, places and things he would have seen every day in Amsterdam.

Having already suffered the early loss of his wife and three of their children, Rembrandt’s later years were burdened with bankruptcy, acrimonious legal proceedings with a former lover, and the loss of his common-law wife and only remaining son.

However, far from diminishing as he aged, Rembrandt’s creativity gathered new energy. The once-in-a-lifetime exhibition explores Rembrandt’s final years of painting when he achieved ultimate greatness.

Quietly breathtaking, the exhibition comprises of approximately 40 paintings, 20 drawings and 30 prints, revelling in Rembrandt’s iconic use of combined light and shadow.

From the moment you step into the hush of the first room filled with luminous self-portraits chronicling the last decade of Rembrandt’s life – and his exceptional honesty in recording his own features as he aged – you are ensnared [it is worth visiting for just this room].

Drawn further and further into his expressions of intimacy, contemplation, conflict and reconciliation, I felt as though I was gazing upon familiar friends as I sat mesmerised by the tender depictions of the ‘Old Woman Reading a Book’ and ‘A Woman Bathing in a Stream’ and even ‘The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Joan Deyman’ and I am itching to go back and sit with them again.

My photographs do none of the great artist’s luminous, multilayered and expressive masterpieces any justice so please go visit and gaze upon their spine-tingling beauty for yourselves.

Rembrandt, The Late WorksThe National GallerySainsbury Wing15 October 2014 – 18 January 2015

Navigating London Design Festival with a four month old baby on the blistering September city streets was no mean feat, but hell bent on getting my design fix during the design worlds version of fashion week, I was determined to make it work! Here are my highlights from the week’s festivities.

Newbie Taiwanese Studio IF ‘s striking chandeliers immediately caught my eye at Tent London with its simple and intuitive beauty. Delicate copper and glass combined to create ethereal clouds of bubbles which when used with a pulley system lit up in a whimsical sequence.

British designer Sue Pryke launched a covetable collection of hand-carved Oak chopping boards with leather details in collaboration with outdoorsy brand Wild and Wood, I love their stylish simplicity. Prices start from £30.

I wrote about being taken by illustrator Louise Wilkinson’s work last year when she had just launched her first collection, so it was lovely to rediscover her again at Tent. She exhibited a beautiful range of patterned textiles with a fun folksy feel which on closer inspection contained witty narratives hidden within!

As much as I have delighted in a once in a lifetime maternity break, I have been itching to get back to design and my blog especially. It felt only appropriate that I kickstart it during the London Design Festival.

Having spent the past four months [has it been that long already?] in a haze of sleepless nights, playful days, much needed coffee mornings with new friends [lifelines] and a mind-altering education, it has felt like my brain hasn’t had the space for much else. The honest truth is that there were times that I found myself frustrated by the sudden lack of industry and inspiration. Spending over a decade working every hour under the sun at a job I really loved and then abruptly stopping was a very strange feeling.

But as with everything in life – hindsight is a beautiful thing and its only in looking back on my summer of love I’ve realised how amazing these last few months have been and not as devoid of inspiration as I initially believed.

A quick introduction to our bright star – Aarya [pronounced Ah-Ree-Ah] was born on the 24th of May and we grow more in love with her every day – we have been introducing her to our world and she to us. She has inspired me in a profound as well as a superficial way – her clothes, her nursery and making sure she is comfortable has opened up a whole new realm of sweet and playful design.

I kickstarted Aarya’s design education by inadvertently celebrating her 1 month birthday at the Ace Hotel [I went there for a launch]. She loved the hubbub of it all!

Being a little more housebound than normal, I discovered the many charms of my East London neighbourhood [Wanstead] – a spate of new eateries and shops began populating our high street providing much needed respite.

With everyone suddenly obsessed with sleep in our household, it became all about the bedding. We all had matching Metallic Polka Dot bedsheets from PB Teen, our bed was topped with West Elm’s Nomad Bedspread and Pillows with Aarya’s cosied up with a beautiful ruffle crib bumper from PB Kids. Stylish bedding promotes sleep in my opinion!

… oh and not to mention very talented friends turning up with beautiful mobiles to treasure [a DIY on how to make these is upcoming this month].

I hate leaving London in the summer when its at its best – every summer feels like a holiday in the city. This one especially – we spent so much time with friends, balmy evenings at launch parties and lunches at favourite eateries.

…visiting exhibitions and capturing an alternative family portrait at the Digital Revolution at The Barbican…

… a quick escape to the country with friends to celebrate Swedish crayfish season

And of course my main inspiration…

I’ll be reporting from London Design Festival this week so follow my Instagram and Twitter for updates with a post to follow on my new finds from the week. Till then – its good to be back!

Unable to make any international trade shows this year because of my pregnancy [I am seething with jealousy over my Instagram feed from Milan Design Week right now] I have been looking for any opportunity for design inspiration closer to home.

Back for its second year, May Design Series is a new design show which aims to tie up the European show cycle with exciting new design products, spark conversations, inspire and inject a little bit of fun into the trade show experience

Held in the Excel Centre in London, this year the trade show is comprised of five design districts: The Furniture Show, Lighting, Decor, DX [Design Excellence] and Kitchen + Bathroom.

Having missed out on the action at Milan Design Week, the show still promises appearances from the cream of the crop. Among those debuting new collections are young Danish company & Tradition, iconic British designer Bethan Gray, Italian furniture company Casamania, innovative wallpaper brand Cole and Son, exciting new rug company Front and award winning British furniture brand James UK.

Inspiring talks will be held throughout the event, like – Interior Trends: Enduring or Fads, chaired by Carole King and Arianna Trapani, co-editors of Heart Home Magazine and interior stylist Pippa Jameson, 20 Things You Didn’t Learn in Design School lead by Architect, interior designer and, most recently, TV presenter Daniel Hopwood and Spaces at Work, dissecting the future of workplace design.

The May Design Series will take place from 18th – 20th May at London’s ExCeL exhibition centre. Entry is free – Register here.